How to Become an Activistpreneur

What is an Activispreneur?

You have the passion for civil rights, but you need to also develop a way to support that passion through a rewarding career or a sustainable organization. The solution: Become an Activistpreneur. An Activistpreneur is an activist that operates a social enterprise, business, or other organization that provides financial support to their civil rights activism.

So, how do you become an Activistpreneur?

Photo by Mark König on Unsplash

Just like getting started in a business or career, in order to become an activistpreneur, you need develop your activism mission statement. You need to have something to work toward.

Developing An Activistpreneur Mission Statement

A mission statement indicates what you are moving toward. It is your North Star. It is what guides you in your daily activities. It is why you get up in the morning. It is what gets you going. Even more importantly, it keeps you focused when challenges come and when adversity strikes, as it almost certainly will. A mission statement is a summary of your mission in a statement that fully captures your mission in clear and concise terms. It is a statement about who you are as an activist and what you want for your activism. It also includes where you would like to go.

A mission statements helps to clarify your goals, and even helps you set your goals, and then measure your progress based on the deadlines that you set out to accomplish the goals you have set for yourself. A mission statement is also important to share with your team to help ensure everyone is focused on the same objectives.

How to Find Your Activispreneur’s Mission

To develop a civil rights mission, the first step is to determine your identity, and one way to do so from a civil rights perspective is to determine which Civil Rights Tradition, you come from or subscribe to. To do this, first think about what civil rights hero/heroine, do you admire most. Who do you identify with either because of their focus, or because their personal journey is similar to your own journey. Once you identify this person, then you can begin to identify what civil rights tradition, you come from. Some examples include Ella Baker, Constance Baker Motley, Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, A. G. Gaston, or Booker T. Washington. Do your research into their lives. Look for common and similar themes from their lives that you can incorporate into your own. Once you have researched and selected your civil rights tradition, begin to connect the dots to your mission. You can even use this tradition as a starting point for your mission. As has been said, success leaves clues. Follow those close to help you get in tune with who you are.

How to Find Your Activistpreneur’s Purpose

Once identify who you are based on the civil rights tradition, you come from, the next step is to answer why you are here. Consider, what it is that you were put on this planet. Start with a list of things that you do well, or better than most other people. Then create a list of what activities or tasks come easy to you or feel natural to you. These items are a good starting point for your purpose. Remember, don’t look outward for your purpose, look inward. Listen to yourself, trust yourself, and believe in yourself.

Your Activistpreneur Goals

Once you have your identify and purpose, it is easier to develop your goals. When you know who you are and why you’re here, you know where you need to go. Goals are dreams with deadlines. Goals are the guideposts on the journey to you accomplishing your purpose. For instance if your purpose is to help a particular group of people or advance a cause that you care deeply about, think about how you would accomplish this purpose. What steps would need to be taken to do so? These become the goals that you set and are in line with your purpose. Once you identify these steps or milestones, then give them a deadline, 90 days, six months, or even a year from now. Also, think big pictures. Expand the frame of your journey out a little. Expand your mind and your horizon and look to see how far you can go with your imagination and dreaming. The bigger the better. This is because in many ways our capacity to achieve is closely tied to our capacity to conceive an idea. Remember it is better to aim too high and miss, than to aim to low and hit, or even to never aim at all.

Reaching Your Activispreneur Goals

Think about your goals like taking a trip to a destination. Your goals provide a roadmap to follow. Start with your destination and work backwards to your current location. So, decide where you want to be let’s say a year from now and work backwards. What would you need to do at each step to end up where you want to be. Identify the Landmarks (milestones) along the way. These milestones form the basis for your goals and tasks that must be completed to ultimately fulfill your purpose.

To help you get started on your journey, I have created a free Goals Roadmap Worksheet that you can download for free here. Also, for more helpful content like this subscribe to our Blog here, and visit us at civilrightsuniversity.com.

Until next time, remember keep fighting!

For Civil Rights,

Brian Brian K. Leonard, is a civil rights attorney, author, activists, and founder of Civil Rights University, and Civil Rights University Press. Civil Rights University helps civil rights activists, attorneys, and social entrepreneurs, build rewarding careers and sustainable organizations and businesses, by teaching them how to make a difference and a profit at the same time. Go to civilrightsuniversity.com, and follow Civil Rights University on twitter, @UniversityCivil.